Meaning of prevent in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /prəˈvɛnt/

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  1. Verb

    prevent

    Etymology

    late Middle English (in the sense ‘act in anticipation of’): from Latin praevent-‘preceded, hindered’, from the verb praevenire, from prae‘before’ + venire‘come’

    Definitions

    1. keep from happening or arising

    Examples

    • « have the effect of preventing »
    • « My sense of tact forbids an honest answer »

    Derived terms

  2. 2. prevent from doing something or being in a certain state

    Examples

    • « We must prevent the cancer from spreading »
    • « His snoring kept me from falling asleep »
    • « Keep the child from eating the marbles »

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

Famous quotes

  • « Coercion may prevent many transgressions but it robs even actions which are legal of a part of their beauty. Freedom may lead to many transgressions, but it lends even to vices a less ignoble form. »
    Wilhelm von Humboldt
  • « No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary, whatever the punishment, once a specific crime has appeared for the first time, its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been. »
    Hannah Arendt
  • « I must have something to engross my thoughts, some object in life which will fill this vacuum, and prevent this sad wearing away of the heart. »
    Elizabeth Blackwell
  • « Only the freedom of mind can prevent the state from becoming totalitarian and from issuing totalitarian demands. »
    Friedrich Durrenmatt
  • « Guantanamo allows us to secure dangerous detainees without the risk of escape, while at the same time providing us with valuable intelligence information on how best to proceed in the war against terror and prevent future attacks. »
    Jim Ryun

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